Uriel stared with his mouth wide open at the glowing paper filled with a bunch of uniquely shaped runes. He absolutely did not understand what any of this meant.
"You see it right? Your 'Codex.' Every witcher in this forgotten world has it." Seawatcher's voice returned to his normal deep, gravelly tone. Uriel tilted his head, looking away from the book, and glared at the back of the mantle man.
"Codex, is that what they're called? It says here on the first page that this is Witcher Uriel's Codex... What a unique title." The curious boy studied the hologram book in front of him. He even tried to touch the paper, only for it to pass through his finger.
"The Codex is like a system for witchers, and only they can see their own Codex. Other people cannot see each other's system..." Seawatcher paused for a moment and slightly turned his head over his shoulder to take a peek at the boy.
He was surprised to see the talkative blondie look so serious, reading his Codex thoroughly.
"You look... solemn... What? Are you that curious about this whole thing? Trust me. You'll get tired of it..." Despite everything, Uriel still remained focused on reading the Codex. This bothered the quiet watcher — the boy who was so chatty had suddenly turned quiet.
He purposely coughed a few times to get the attention of the blonde boy. It worked, and Uriel broke his gaze from the book. "Ah, sorry. It's an old habit of mine. My mother used to write amazing fantasy books back in my village! I always got early access and would give feedback before she released them... What a good old time..."
Seawatcher could sense Uriel's mood suddenly change after bringing up his mother. The cloaked man decided to come up with a question to distract him from his deep thoughts.
"About the Codex... There should be a part named 'Oddity.' Mind telling me what yours is called?"
"Oh yeah!" Uriel looked back at the illusion book. "It says here mine is 'Divine Assimilation.' Do you know what that means?"
The watcher nodded his head a bit, then turned and walked toward the edge of the pearl-shaped creature. Uriel tilted his head, wondering what he was doing. The cloaked man stopped at the creature's rim, his hood hanging low as he studied the dark water below. The waves moved the same way the lantern swayed. Then, Uriel spotted something glowing deep beneath the surface.
Seawatcher saw it too. The mantle figure raised his walking stick. For a heartbeat, he held perfectly still. Then he struck. The rod plunged into the water with a sharp thunk. The glow disappeared as the water churned. When the watcher lifted his stick back up, something was impaled on the tip—writhing and dripping water everywhere.
Uriel's breath caught in his throat at the sight of the impaled fish. He leaned closer to get a better look. The creature was crescent-shaped, its body curving like a sliver of the moon. Its skin was almost glassy, nearly transparent. Inside, Uriel could see a single glowing organ, pulsing with a soft, pale light. The glow traveled through the fish's veins, illuminating its entire body from within. But the fish had no eyes. Just two dark and empty hollow sockets.
"What a unique fish. This really is like a fantasy world!" While Uriel was admiring the crescent fish, Seawatcher dropped the creature in front of Uriel without any warning. Its body flapped violently, making the blonde boy startle and back away.
"Hey! What's that for?!" Uriel demanded an answer, but the mantle man's expression remained as nonchalant as ever.
"Your Oddity... It's a gift given to you by the deity that gazed upon the witcher. Different witchers have different Oddities. It all depends on which god beheld them. For your case, it's the God of Light. Your Oddity is what makes you different from ordinary people. It's your... special trait. A power given only to witchers."
The blondie went completely still. A chill ran down his spine. As he sucked in a sharp breath, the boy then opened his mouth and said:
"So I have power?" Those four simple words. Uriel couldn't see it, but he could tell that Seawatcher rolled his eyes behind that hood.
"How am I supposed to use it? And what's with the fish?" Uriel lightly poked the crescent creature after it stopped flapping. That single touch made the fish's whole body shudder, and then the inside glowed a beautiful light blue that shone in the darkness.
"I don't know for sure what your Oddity is, but suggesting by that name, it probably has something to do with absorbing a thing—or a creature." Uriel was dazed at first, until he remembered the word assimilation, which meant the process of taking things fully, or in simpler terms, absorbing things.
"Ah—I understand what you're getting at, but how am I supposed to use it?" Uriel stared at his savior, waiting for his mighty knowledge. Instead, he only got a shrug from Seawatcher.
"I don't know. Every witcher has different methods of using it. You just have to figure out yours." That was all he said before turning back and resuming his previous position, leaving the blondie completely bewildered.
Uriel brainstormed a bit, even searching and poking the fish even more. But when there was no result, he gave a hefty sigh. "The Codex isn't that useful if it didn't tell me how to use my power—" The blonde man stopped mid-talk when he saw a faint glow inside the fish. But it wasn't the usual light blue glow. Under all that glow lay a vague gleam that shone both canary yellow and pearl white.
The boy thought for a bit. He wanted to dig inside the fish, but just imagining how disgusting and wet it would be touching the fish's organs made Uriel gag. But behind all those thoughts lay a thirst for revenge. After hearing he had power, Uriel wanted to use that power to get revenge on his alcoholic father. But how could he get revenge when he didn't know how his power worked?
Uriel sucked in a deep breath and stared at the fish. Without further hesitation, he plunged his hand toward the crescent body, penetrating through the jelly-like textured skin and into the inside, which was surprisingly watery. The boy closed his eyes while biting his tongue as he rummaged through the inside, pushing the fish's organs aside. After a couple of minutes of struggle, he finally caught a solid object in his palm. Uriel quickly retreated his hand while the water inside the crescent fish spilled everywhere over him.
His eyes widened at the unknown liquid spilling everywhere over his not-so-brand-new tunic. "Ew, ew, ew..." While wiping away all the fish's insides, he caught a glimpse inside his palm. It was radiating that same color that Uriel had seen. Feeling exhilarated, Uriel opened his palm, and the violent gleam rushed toward the teenage boy, completely covering his face in a mix of holy light colors.
Behind him, Seawatcher's heard all the commotion in the back, his lantern stopped swaying. The cloaked figure had turned fully around now, his hood aimed at the blondie. Watching him throughoutly.
Despite the intense brightness, Uriel kept staring at the object lying in his very own palm, completely mesmerized. Sitting lightly on top of Uriel's hand was a gold-colored pearl that radiated so brightly it covered Uriel whole. And hovering just above the golden pearl was the similar white screen with the intricate golden border that the blondie had seen before.
{ Essence Vessel: Glimmer Fish }
{ Divine Light available: 50/500 }
{ Requirement: 5 Divine Light }
{ The light fades quickly. }
{ [Absorb] | [Discard] }